Software Development Engineer II, AWS Activate

The AWS Activate Program provides startups the resources they need to grow successfully on AWS. We do this by understanding the uniqueness of each and every startup that applies for Activate, and then personalizing the resources we make available to them. Our resources include (but are not limited to) AWS service credits, Business Support credits, technical education and training, opportunities for business and technical mentorship from Amazonians and startup peers, and personalized growth benefits. Above all else, Activate’s goal is to level the playing field for startup founders anywhere and everywhere. We believe that great ideas come from all types of founders, from all walks of life; not only those that have the good fortune of a venture investment. AWS Activate welcomes all startup builders with open arms, and we’ll do our best to guide you through your journey, providing you with the relevant guidance, education and resources along the way. The AWS Activate team is looking for an who wants to change the way we help Startups get started in AWS. We are obsessed with building tools and applications Startups need to be successful at AWS. We strive to bring new tools, features, and innovations to the Startup community. We are building applications that will use modern architectures, new services patterns, and exciting technologies to ensure we are meeting our customers expectations for performance, availability, and features. We value diversity in backgrounds and believe writing is a learning process and that innovation is driven by learners, not knowers. As we deliver for our customer, we strongly encourage work-life balance; as well as, personal and professional growth. We are looking for motivated and skilled developers with the drive and enthusiasm to build ground-up applications for startups. Here at AWS, we embrace our differences. We are committed to furthering our culture of inclusion. We have ten employee-led affinity groups, reaching 40,000 employees in over 190 chapters globally. We have innovative benefit offerings and we host ongoing learning experiences. Amazon's culture of inclusion is reinforced within our 16 Leadership Principles, which remind team members to seek diverse perspectives, learn and be curious, and earn trust. Our team is dedicated to supporting new team members. Our team has a broad mix of experience levels and Amazon tenures, and we're building an environment that celebrates knowledge sharing and mentorship. Our senior engineers truly enjoy mentoring more junior engineers and engineers from non-traditional backgrounds through one-on-one mentoring and thorough, but kind, code reviews. We care about your career growth. We try to assign projects and tasks based on what will help each team member develop into a well-rounded engineer and enable them to take on more complex tasks in the future. Our team puts a high value on work-live harmony. It isn't about how many hours you spend at home or at work; it's about the flow you establish that brings energy to both parts of your life. We believe striking the right balance between your personal and professional life is critical to life-long happiness and fulfillment. We offer flexibility in working hours and encourage you to find your own balance between your work and personal lives. The Startup ACE (Acquisition & Customer Experience) team is responsible for the AWS Activate Program, the largest credit program at AWS, having offered over $6B in AWS Promotional Credits to acquire, nurture, and grow over 280,000 startups since the program's launch in 2013. ACE owns Startups.AWS (SAWS) — the single web destination where startup customers can explore AWS's technical and business-focused content, apply for Activate credits, and access the full suite of program benefits. Through SAWS, startups apply directly for credit packages ranging from $1K for bootstrapped founders up to $200K for Series A-funded startups, with step-by-step application guidance and status tracking. Once onboarded, the Activate Console provides startups with a personalized experience powered by custom ML recommendation algorithms that match relevant content — including learning resources, events, AWS service recommendations, training, and cost optimization opportunities — to each startup's profile based on their industry, product type, funding stage, tech interests, and AWS service usage. The Cost & Credit Hub within the Console gives startups visibility into their credit balance, expiration dates, expected exhaustion date, spend and burn rate, and personalized cost-saving recommendations sourced from Cost Explorer and Trusted Advisor, helping startups extend the longevity of their credits and optimize spend. Beyond credits, SAWS enables startups to access technical support, exclusive offers and deals on third-party business tools, personalized guidance including marketing support and discounted advertising services, and go-to-market support. On the internal side, ACE owns the Activate Admin Console, which serves as the centralized hub for internal stakeholders — providing the tools, workflows, and Machine Learning necessary to support the startup customer journey. The Admin Console enables BDMs, Account Managers, and Operations associates to vet and approve credit applications (with BD-managed and Provider-led approval paths), manage Provider campaigns and Organization IDs for over 4K partner Accelerators, Incubators, and VC firms globally, process credit issuances and modifications, and create content for the Recommendation Feed. The team provides fraud prevention through containment score (C-Score) checks and TRMS investigations, financial protection by enforcing a $200K lifetime credit maximum and incremental top-up calculations, automated customer notifications for credit activities, onboarding emails, and nurture communications with BDM/AM copies. The application processing workflows that maintain a 3–5 business day SLA for review and approval, keeping both the externally facing Startups.AWS experience and the internal operations running at global scale.Inclusive Team CultureHere at AWS, we embrace our differences. We are committed to furthering our culture of inclusion. We have ten employee-led affinity groups, reaching 40,000 employees in over 190 chapters globally. We have innovative benefit offerings, and we host ongoing learning experiences. Amazon’s culture of inclusion is reinforced within our 14 Leadership Principles, which remind team members to seek diverse perspectives, learn and be curious, and earn trust.Mentorship & Career GrowthOur team is dedicated to supporting new team members. Our team has a broad mix of experience levels and Amazon tenures, and we’re building an environment that celebrates knowledge sharing and mentorship. Our senior engineers truly enjoy mentoring more junior engineers and engineers from non-traditional backgrounds through one-on-one mentoring and thorough, but kind, code reviews.We care about your career growth. We try to assign projects and tasks based on what will help each team member develop into a better-rounded engineer and enable them to take on more complex tasks in the future.Work Life BalanceOur team puts a high value on work-live harmony. It isn’t about how many hours you spend at home or at work; it’s about the flow you establish that brings energy to both parts of your life. We believe striking the right balance between your personal and professional life is critical to life-long happiness and fulfillment. We offer flexibility in working hours and encourage you to find your own balance between your work and personal lives.Basic qualifications- 3+ years of non-internship professional software development experience- 2+ years of non-internship design or architecture (design patterns, reliability and scaling) of new and existing systems experience- 1+ years of software development engineer or related occupational experience- 1+ years of designing and developing large-scale, multi-tiered, multi-threaded, embedded or distributed software applications, tools, systems, and services using: C#, C++, Java, or Perl experience- 1+ years of Object Oriented Design experience- Bachelor's degree or foreign equivalent in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related field- Experience programming with at least one software programming languagePreferred qualification - 3+ years of full software development life cycle, including coding standards, code reviews, source control management, build processes, testing, and operations experience- Master's degree in computer science or equivalent- Knowledge of Machine Learning and LLM fundamentals, including transformer architecture, training/inference lifecycles, and optimization techniques- Passion for customer experience and usability. This includes successful delivery of customer self-service tools, automated management and/or optimization of services.Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected veteran status, disability, or other legally protected status.Our inclusive culture empowers Amazonians to deliver the best results for our customers. If you have a disability and need a workplace accommodation or adjustment during the application and hiring process, including support for the interview or onboarding process, please visit for more information. If the country/region you’re applying in isn’t listed, please contact your Recruiting Partner.The base salary range for this position is listed below. Your Amazon package will include sign-on payments and restricted stock units (RSUs). Final compensation will be determined based on factors including experience, qualifications, and location. Amazon also offers comprehensive benefits including health insurance (medical, dental, vision, prescription, Basic Life & AD&D insurance and option for Supplemental life plans, EAP, Mental Health Support, Medical Advice Line, Flexible Spending Accounts, Adoption and Surrogacy Reimbursement coverage), 401(k) matching, paid time off, and parental leave. Learn more about our benefits at .USA, WA, Seattle - 143,700.00 - 194,400.00 USD annually